8/6/2019
The!Harlem!Childrens!Zone!response!to!the!Brookings!Institutes!report:!The!
Harlem!Childrens!Zone,!Promise!N
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The!Harlem!Childrens!Zone!response!to!the!Brookings!Institutes!report:!The!Harlem!Childrens!Zone,!Promise!Neighborhoods,!and!the!Broader,!Bolder!
Approach!to!Education!!
By!Geoffrey!Canada,!President!and!CEO,!Harlem!Childrens!Zone!
With!all!due!respect!to!the!Brookings!Institute,!we!believe!that!the!report!by!Grover!Whitehurst!
and!Michelle!Croft!is!a!wrong"headed!take!on!the!work!of!the!Harlem!Childrens!Zone,!one!which!is!
further!compromised!by!several!statistical!misrepresentations!of!our!Promise!Academy!charter!schools!
test!results.!!!
In!2004,!the!Harlem!Childrens!Zone!opened!the!Promise!Academy!charter!school!with!the!
intention!of!closing!the!black"white!achievement!gap.!!In!just!a!few!short!years!we!have!accomplished!
that.!!With!the!American!education!landscape!littered!with!schools!in!poor!communities!that!have!failed!
to!accomplish!this!important!task!for!decades,!we!feel!that!the!Whitehurst!and!Croft!report!trivializes!
what!we!have!done!in!a!relatively!short!time.!!This!is!certainly!not!a!trivial!issue!to!poor!children,!and!
particularly!to!poor!children!of!color,!because!getting!a!good!education!is!their!only!reliable!way!out!of!
poverty.!!!
The!report!equates!the!Harlem!Childrens!Zone!with!our!Promise!Academy!public!charter!school!
as!if!they!were!one!and!the!same.!!This!is!inaccurate!and!misleading.!!Anyone!who!has!even!a!basic!
understanding!of!our!work!would!realize!that!the!Harlem!Childrens!Zone!is!a!comprehensive!place"
based!strategy!that!has!a!goal!of!working!with!all!children!that!reside!in!our!Zone,!whether!they!go!to!
our!public!charter!schools!or!traditional!public!schools.!!Last!year!we!worked!with!over!8,000!children!in!
the!Childrens!Zone.!!The!Whitehurst!and!Croft!report!looked!at!only!one!school!"!and!only!the!500"plus!
students!who!took!the!2007"2009!statewide!tests!"!to!make!its!conclusions!about!the!entire!Harlem!
Childrens!Zone.!!!
The!Harlem!Childrens!Zone!has!one!basic!goal:!to!get!our!children!into!and!through!college.!!We!
have!the!same!standards!for!children!who!go!to!traditional!public!schools!as!we!do!for!those!who!go!to!
the!Promise!Academy!charter!schools.!!In!fact,!this!fall!we!are!thrilled!to!have!more!than!700!of!our!
students!in!college!who!went!to!traditional!public!high!schools!and!participated!in!HCZ!afterschool!
programs.!
We!
believe!
that!
even!
the!
best!
schools!
in!
impoverished!
neighborhoods!
would!
be!
significantly!
improved!if!there!were!wraparound!support!services!for!their!students,!families!and!community.!!If!your!
mission!is!about!all!of!the!students!in!a!community,!then!dealing!with!family!crises,!gangs,!drugs,!
violence,!and!health!all!become!part!of!your!strategy!to!support!development!of!the!whole!child,!not!
just!how!they!perform!on!standardized!tests.!!When!a!community!becomes!too!violent!or!the!schools!
too!lousy,!families!!if!they!have!the!means!!will!move!out.!!Poor!families!dont!have!that!option;!that!is!
why!you!need!a!comprehensive!strategy.!!!
8/6/2019
The!Harlem!Childrens!Zone!response!to!the!Brookings!Institutes!report:!The!
Harlem!Childrens!Zone,!Promise!N
3/3
4)!The!report!used!incorrect!demographic!data!about!HCZs!charter!schools.!The!authors!used!the!
Promise!Academy!I!charter!schools!reported!percentages!of!students!who!qualify!for!free!and!reduced!
lunch!to!compare!our!students!to!other!similar!populations.!However,!the!numbers!they!used!do!not!
accurately!portray!our!school!population,!which!is!due!to!our!own!reporting!errors.!Because!we!provide!
free!lunch!to!all!of!our!students,!regardless!of!income,!many!parents!did!not!turn!in!the!federal!
reimbursement!forms!during!our!first!few!years!of!operation.!Though!it!meant!we!were!losing!out!on!
some!federal!meal!reimbursements,!we!did!not!push!parents!to!give!in!the!forms.!Consequently!the!
public!records!used!by!the!authors!showed!Promise!Academy!I!with!only!33"52!percent!of!students!
qualifying!for!free!or!reduced!lunch!from!2007"2009.!After!several!years!in!operation,!we!realized!that!
the!subsidized"lunch!forms!were!also!being!used!as!evaluation!data!and!that!consequently,!government!
officials!were!considering!our!population!to!be!wealthier!than!it!actually!was.!Therefore,!we!improved!
our!system!and!we!submitted!more"accurate!data!last!year!to!the!state!that!showed!we!have,!in!fact,!
over!80!percent!of!our!children!qualifying!for!free!or!reduced!lunch.!!
We!applaud!Mayor!Bloomberg!and!Chancellor!Klein!for!bringing!the!best!charter!schools!in!the!
country!here!to!New!York!City,!and!we!are!thrilled!to!be!part!of!the!charter"school!movement,!which!is!
bringing!the!opportunity!for!a!great!education!to!so!many!children!who!have!not!had!that!chance.!
However,!charter!schools!are!not!the!only!answer.!We!must!improve!our!traditional!public!school!
system!since!that!is!where!the!overwhelming!majority!of!our!students!are.!A!crucial!part!of!that!effort!
must!be!making!sure!that!poor!children!and!families!have!the!support!services!that!so!many!of!us!in!
America!have!as!a!matter!of!course.!
!
!
